The Left-Handed Guitar Players That Changed Music By John Engel
BILL JENNINGS


guitar
Plays Guitar Left Handed Upside/Down.
In band(s) : Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five, Wild Bill Davis Trio, and others.


A superb stylist and upside down lefty player, Jennings was what is commonly regarded as a guitarist's guitarist - a left-handed compliment if there ever was one. He played with Louis Jordan in the late 1940s - and was an influence on B. B. King and Wes Montgomery. His work with Wild Bill Davis, Jack McDuff, and Bill Doggett was pivotal in developing the organ trio (organ-guitar-drums), which became such a popular jazz formation. Similarly, his collaboration with saxman Willis Jackson has yielded many great and influential recordings. Bill Jennings was an important guitarist - one of the first jazz-guitar frontmen, with his own recording contract in the early 1950s. He should be (re)discovered! A very thorough chapter is devoted to him in the UNCOMMON SOUND book.